


Those Were the (Not so) Good Old Days

by glaciesdraco



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Character Study, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Near Drowning, Pre-Canon, Self-Indulgent, Tumblr Prompt, the talk everyone wanted to see
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25029613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glaciesdraco/pseuds/glaciesdraco
Summary: Prompt: "I'll feel so much better if you'd let me walk you home."
Relationships: Heiwajima Shizuo/Orihara Izaya, Kishitani Shinra & Orihara Izaya
Comments: 2
Kudos: 93





	Those Were the (Not so) Good Old Days

**Author's Note:**

> Oof this one became a doozy. Apparently I save all of the long fics for the very end? Kind of annoying tbh but okay. Anyway this is hella hella hella hella hellaaaaa indulgent. And maybe one day I will write the prequel to this that shows how Izaya and Shizuo got together? This is like... a very old idea I had... forever ago, back when I first started shipping Shizaya. This is before anything happens, Masaomi, Celty's head, the Dollars, all of it. So forgive me if I took a few liberties with Izaya. I am not sorry, but forgive me anyway. 
> 
> This needed to exist. I feel it in my bones.

What were the odds that he would be at the right place at the right time? Shizuo never visited his old school campus, and truthfully, he knew he wasn’t supposed to be here at all, let alone smoking a cigarette in the school yard while he walked around. Tom had let him out of work early and not wanting to go home just yet he had ended up taking a long walk through the streets of Tokyo until he had ended up all the way at his old school, the former Raijin academy that was now known as Raira.

He couldn’t say he remembered his school days with fondness. After all that was when “he” had entered into his life and regardless of their relationship now, Shizuo wasn’t nostalgic or wistful to return to those volatile days. Honestly, he still thought back on those days and considered just how annoying it was that he and Izaya couldn’t just be what they were now back then and saved themselves a whole lot of grief. The very thought of it made him huff in irritation as he puffed a cigarette along the track field. All in all, the new school was a pretty nice place. Since combining with the other schools in this district, Raira Academy had quite a few facilities that Shizuo and his classmates could never have even dreamed of having. The field was enormous, and the indoor pool looked much nicer than the one they used to have, from what Shizuo could see through the window.

He brushed his shoulder against the wall and finished his cigarette in the pale light of one of the night lamps before putting it in the trash baggy he carried in his lapel pocket. He checked his phone too, annoyed that he hadn’t heard anything from aforementioned pain-in-his-ass in a few hours. He was busy today so Shizuo hadn’t been able to go see him. What was even more annoying was that he was probably getting into a _heap_ of trouble. He huffed in annoyance.

Suddenly, a door opened directly in front of him, two inches away from smacking him in the face and out came four figures howling and laughing at a volume that was frankly unacceptable for this hour of the night. Shizuo caught the door on instinct and held it open as he listened to them boasting about whatever they had just done in there before taking off at a breakneck pace. Shizuo glanced back and forth between them and the inside before sighing detestingly and stalking inside. He didn’t know what made him choose the curiosity over the anger. Recently he’d found that he wasn’t the same guy as he had been in high school, which he wasn’t sure if he should be happy about or not. After all, didn’t that mean he was leaving his childhood behind?

The pool was dimly lit, but underwater had very faint lights so it would be possible to see if anything were swimming around. There, at the deepest edge, a black form was sunk to the bottom, bubbles flowing out of the top of the water.

Shizuo was fast. He charged. He dove.

He had an awful feeling.

He gathered up the form in his arms and lifted it out of the water, not even sparing a moment to feel the coldness. He had the drowning person on their back over the side of the pool. Shizuo registered who it was almost instantly.

No way.

No fucking way.

He couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. He didn’t have time for this shit. He couldn’t shut down and get angry at a time like this, at a time where Izaya lay unconscious, sopping wet, and near drowned all alone to contend with the consequences. He was already so cold; his body was littered with various bruises and marks. Just what the hell had those monsters done? Those monsters he’d just let get away? A searing ache at his temple left him reeling for a moment but he bit it back.

No. He didn’t have time for this. He didn’t have time to be angry with Izaya either.

He didn’t know how to perform CPR. He pressed his ear to Izaya’s chest and yes, it seemed he did have a heartbeat. A pulse too. Maybe it hadn’t been for long. Maybe they just tossed him in and ran for it. What were the odds? What were the fucking odds?

Shizuo looked down at Izaya’s pale body. Then was he just unconscious? Beaten to near death by those bastards? He swallowed twice, chest tight, before finding his voice.

“Izaya! Oi, Izaya!”

Like a trigger, Izaya’s slack face twitched slightly. He was okay! Responsive at least, and not committing some sort of horrible prank, much to Shizuo’s relief. What were the odds? He kept asking. What were the fucking odds that he would happen upon this exact moment?

Izaya gasped away, followed immediately by sputtering coughs and thirty seconds worth of water. He shivered, cringed in pain as he sat up and Shizuo grabbed his shoulders to steady him. Izaya shuddered violently before looking up slowly into his eyes. Shizuo’s dumbstricken face must’ve been quite a sight, but Izaya didn’t even crack a smile.

“Did you just try to drown me?” he asked as though he were confused.

“What the…?! Like hell! I just fucking saved you from drowning by chance! What the fuck?”

“OW ow ow! Stop shaking me!” Izaya’s hands pressed to the back of his own in order to stop his overly aggressive reaction to Izaya’s question. A thought suddenly occurred to him.

“Oh God, you could have brain damage I completely forgot.”

“What?” Izaya rubbed tenderly at his shoulders where the pinching had hurt. He fur-lined jacket had been soaked all the way through. Shizuo suddenly shoved it off by his shoulders and forcefully pressed his ear to Izaya’s chest to listen carefully. No matter how hard he tried, he had no idea how to tell if his heart was beating unevenly. “Ow Shizu-chan, be gentle.” Izaya said a little offhandedly. He seemed really dizzy and tired.

“Okay, what’s the last thing you remember?” Shizuo asked him seriously and this time Izaya did crack a little smile, only because of what came out of Shizuo’s mouth. “A bright tunnel? A fiery pit? I think maybe you almost drowned.”

“Well I’ve obviously gotten wet, but how in the hell could I have nearly drowned, and you don’t know for sure? You’re moronic, I can’t believe I have to wake up being yelled at by you.”

“What the hell happened to you then huh? Why are you at Raijin academy grounds of all places huh?”

“Ah we’re at Raira huh? How cliché.” Izaya rubbed at his forehead like it might be aching. He had receded into himself like he was cold, but his voice was steady and calm like it was just another day. “Listen, I can tell you all of this with no issue, but can you take me to Shinra’s first? I think a couple of my ribs are broken and assuming that we’re still not enemies given all of the secretive sex…”

“ _Izaya_.” Shizuo snapped warningly.

“…I hope I can trust you not to kill me.” Izaya finished. “Is that okay? Will you do that for me? Would you like me to pay you for it up front maybe? Assuming they didn’t rob me of all my possessions in my secret coat pocket… ah, they didn’t. What a bunch of morons. Though I guess this phone is definitely ruined…”

“Would you stop talking?!” Shizuo demanded, “God, I can barely keep up with you. You could’ve just drowned if I wasn’t here you know!”

“Oh yes that’s right, you are here for some reason. You can fill me in on the details later I guess.” Izaya seemed slightly surprised but he was a little subdued, possibly from being so injured and cold. Maybe he was panicking. Shizuo couldn’t read his facial expressions to save his life.

Shizuo sighed and gripped Izaya on either side of his arms.

“You scared the living hell out of me.”

Izaya gaped at him, but his reaction was the same as his other reactions had been. He calmly smiled and leaned into Shizuo’s touch.

“Yes well… this has turned out to be a day full of surprises.”

After that, he promptly passed out in Shizuo’s arms.

Izaya really wasn’t much to carry. He barely weighed anything. Honestly, the coat and the fact that he was soaked through was probably the only thing making him seemingly weigh a normal weight. He’d thought before whenever he saw Izaya naked that he could probably stand to gain a few pounds. If he ever said that to his face though Izaya would just deflect and make fun of him in order to get Shizuo to drop it. Now though, Izaya was unconscious, helpless in his arms. He couldn’t even be snarky properly. He walked through Raijin’s old school grounds swiftly, with a purpose. Izaya had said Shinra’s so he’d take them to Shinra’s, but really, he’d love to get Izaya to a hospital. His head would probably dangle pathetically over the side if Shizuo wasn’t cradling it with his own arm. He had thrown Izaya’s coat over the other’s form to help cover him at least a little through the autumn air sweeping over Ikebukuro. Still, the coldness from the water was a pain in the ass, as even Shizuo could feel a little bit of a chill as he made his way up the stairs to Shinra and Celty’s apartment. Shinra answered the door and it was followed by an incredibly surprised yell that Shizuo simply didn’t have time for.

“Stop fucking screaming! Do you not see the body I’m carrying here?”

“Y-You’ve killed him! I- I c-can’t believe the two of you have finally had it out and killed one another. And now you’re here to have me destroy the body?! Shizuo you fiend, you…!”

“Shut the _fuck_ up!” Shizuo howled over Shinra’s screaming and immediately Shinra had covered his own mouth. “Me and Izaya happened to be at the old Raijin campus at the same time today and…!”

“Oh my God! You killed Izaya at our school? Oh the dramatic irony! Oh Izaya, your narcissistic arrogance has finally caught up with you. I can’t believe this has happ…”

At that moment Izaya stirred away just enough to pop Shinra once, very softly on the forehead.

“Moron. Don’t you have neighbors?” Izaya said in that even tone from before. Shizuo breathed a sigh of relief that Izaya wasn’t in such poor shape that he couldn’t react to things.

“Uh… ah, that is… I!” Shinra rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as if he had forgotten about his surroundings or something. He seemed more embarrassed than relieved to see that Izaya wasn’t in fact a corpse that Shizuo had been carrying for well over twelve blocks. Shizuo gritted his teeth. Moron.

“W-W-W-Wait! Then this means!” Shinra gasped even louder this time, “Shizuo, you want me to save Izaya? Have you two finally seen the error of your ways?”

“Stop asking so many damn questions at once damn it!” Shizuo snapped, pulling Izaya closer to him as he thought about the answers to those questions. It was complicated, but it was not. It was…

Highly improbable. But, not impossible. Then he felt Izaya’s fingers brush his face.

“This should be the easiest way to make Shinra understand.” He said gently before planting a soft kiss on Shizuo’s lips.

Shizuo was so awestruck he couldn’t even respond. In front of him, Shinra made the strangest noise.

“Y-Y-You two! Y-Y-You two are…!” Shinra gasped even more shaken up now. Shizuo was five seconds away from busting through the door uninvited.

“Now Shinra, stop asking so many questions and just do what he says alright? I’ll feel much more up to a story once I have a few painkillers.” The last word of Izaya’s voice was very flat, tired like he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He must have been in a lot of pain, to be vulnerable in front of not just Shizuo but Shinra too.

Shinra and Shizuo exchanged knowing glances. Shinra moved aside and Shizuo marched in.

“God I wish Celty was home right now.” Shinra mumbled under his breath, “This is way too wild to be dealing with on my own.”

Shizuo for one was very relieved that Celty was not home.

Izaya leaned on Shizuo’s chest as Shinra injected some pretty powerful pain medication directly into his arm through an IV. He traced a pattern up Shizuo’s vest as though he were merely bored and not trying to distract himself.

“Ahh that’s so much better,” Izaya sighed after a minute or two had passed. He sat up on his own and looked between Shizuo and Shinra. “Having you two around has ended up coming in handy to me after all. I suppose I should apologize for years of calling you a perverted moron and a hideous beast but… we all know that’s just not my style.”

Izaya showed off his signature grin as he did so. Shizuo was almost relieved to hear it, and also his voice returning to normal. Was that what Izaya sounded like when he was in intense pain? He cast his eyes at the floor in deep thought.

“It’s not only apologizing that’s out of character for you Izaya,” Shinra said with a skeptical smile, “It’s everything. Everything about your behavior tonight has been completely abnormal.”

“Is that so? Well maybe I just like keeping you on your toes.”

“Ha ha no. Just admit it. You were in real trouble tonight and you called on your friends to help you.”

“Ha. Friends? Help? I pay you for your services. You have been getting my money, haven’t you? And besides that Shizu-chan was just there by chance I didn’t ask him for help.”

“Ah, but you two are sleeping together then!”

“That’s hardly the same thing as friends Shinra.” Izaya turned away snobbishly. Shizuo felt himself tense up.

“Would you two shut up?” Shizuo demanded. “Shut… up your back and forth. Izaya, what the hell happened to you?”

Izaya made eye contact with him for a brief moment before beaming. “Why I was causing trouble of course! What else do you expect from me? Aren’t you angry now? Don’t you want to kick my butt?”

“Izaya.” Shizuo grabbed Izaya and pulled him closer, protectively. Shinra made a scoffing sound.

“You did promise us a story Izaya.”

“Ah, did I? The kind of crap a shit load of pain will do to a guy. Fine then Shizu-chan.” Izaya tapped him lightly on the cheek with the hand that wasn’t hindered by an IV. “I was assaulted by a guy by the name of Nakura. He’s an old classmate of mine and Shinra’s. I’ve been ruining his life for quite some time now and he finally got a few deviants in his group to work together and come after me. I saw them coming from a mile away of course, but I didn’t expect Nakura to actually know what he was doing for once. I was careless. They got me from behind and well, you know the rest.”

Shizuo exhaled. “You’re saying you deserved it?”

“Of course.” Izaya stared at him directly. “Are you surprised?”

“When you say Nakura…” Shinra intercepted their glaring moment, and they simultaneously looked to him, “You mean _that_ Nakura right? Like… _the_ Nakura?”

“Yes,” Izaya said simply with a smile, then glancing at Shizuo and sighing, added, “In order to keep Shizu-chan’s blood cells from popping I’ll also add he’s the one who stabbed you in middle school yes.”

Shizuo looked back and forth bewilderedly at the two of them. Shinra seemed deep in thought but somewhat pleased about something. Izaya was detached again, like he was in extreme pain. He still had some liquid left in his IV though so hopefully it wasn’t the physical pain. Maybe this was a different pain.

Psychological pain.

“So this Nakura… he’s the one you’re spending the rest of your life getting the better of on my behalf, right?” Shinra grinned mischievously. Izaya glared at him.

“Just what are you thinking in that wild imagination of yours Shinra? That I’m protective of you? That I _like_ you? On the contrary, I’m just holding one particular human under my thumb because I happen to cherish that moment of being nearly stabbed as a pinnacle in my decision to study humans. It has nothing to do with…”

“Yeah yeah whatever,” Shinra waved him off before Izaya could spout anymore bullshit. Shizuo was starting to get annoyed that he couldn’t keep up with them. More notably, he was a little jealous that he and Izaya had a past at school that they could look back and be fond of. He frowned. “And I suppose your relationship with Shizuo is what, also for some sort of human observation?”

Shizuo looked up, immensely interested.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Shizu-chan’s not human.”

Shizuo’s shoulders sagged, but he wasn’t surprised. As if Izaya would be honest, even if Shinra _was_ probably his only friend.

“Wow Shizuo, you’re not going to react poorly?” Shinra grinned, “Just what on earth could have awakened within you that you finally have an ounce of patience?”

“Shut up Shinra. As if we have to explain ourselves to _you._ ”

Izaya smiled a little wider beside him. Shinra didn’t seem discouraged by this though.

“Really though I’m happy for you two! Celty will definitely be surprised when she comes home, but…”

“Do not. Tell her.” Izaya cut him off swiftly.

“Whaaaaat? You’d have me keep such an important secret from my belove…?”

“You know where her head is, don’t you?” Izaya challenged him, and suddenly the room became very icy. Shinra bit his lip, his cheery demeanor dampening a bit. “Then shut your damn mouth about it.”

“Actually Shinra I’d kinda like to tell Celty on my own terms so she doesn’t try to admit me into a mental ward.”

“Uhhh… okay, but… you two are in some sort of relationship, right? I mean, how did this happen?”

Izaya and Shizuo exchanged knowing looks at one another. Izaya sighed.

“I’d rather not talk about it now. I’m not feeling well for some reason you see.”

“Of course.” Shinra said, looking disappointed and annoyed. “But now that you two are friends with benefits or whatever this means that you have to go on double dates with Celty and I, got it?”

“I don’t think friends with benefits do that sort of thing.” Izaya told him evasively.

“We’re _not_ friends with benefits!” Shizuo snapped.

“Anyway, I’m tired.” Izaya said suddenly, “I think I’ll go home.”

Neither Shizuo nor Shinra made a move to stop him as he stood up from his where he was seated against Shizuo and very delicately yanked out his IV without much more than a sigh. He turned to Shizuo and smiled.

“I don’t know how it is that you always find me Shizu-chan,” he sighed, “But that superpower came in handy tonight.”

“As if it’s some sort of super ability I have,” Shizuo answered on instinct, standing as well and looming over Izaya who just darkened his smile, “I’m still halfway convinced that you staged the whole thing just to inconvenience my night.”

“What an interesting thought,” Izaya mused, “But it would be so much more fun to just drop a bulldozer on your head if I wanted to inconvenience your night.”

“Oh come on guys! Just pick if you’re going to be friends already, my heart can’t take it.” Shinra whined.

“Shut up Shinra.” Shizuo told him, and while he was turned to do that Izaya snuck out the door.

Shizuo only froze for an instant before he pursued.

Izaya was fast, even injured. Maybe the painkillers gave him a sort of energy. Still, it wasn’t safe right? He shouldn’t be running if he had broken his ribs.

“Izaya!”

“Shizu-chan!” Izaya echoed, “Is there any particular reason that you’re following me so persistently?”

“You’re hurt!”

“And?”

“And?! What do you mean and?!”

Without Izaya throwing knives at him and without Shizuo having to stop to throw objects he was able to catch up fairly quickly. He caught hold of Izaya’s fur lined hood, which was still damp with water. Izaya had changed into some of Shinra’s pajamas while they were there, and had left his wet clothes behind, but the jacket had apparently been too important.

Izaya halted as soon as he’d been grabbed. Shizuo seized him by the shoulders and turned him to face him. “What the hell is this entire night?” Shizuo demanded. “Are you trying to confuse me? Drive me away? Did you blackmail that Nakura guy into beating you up just to see if I’d save you? Was this some sort of stupid test?”

Izaya was confusing enough with Shizuo hating him. When Shizuo felt… _this_ , it was something else entirely.

“Was Shinra in on it? Are you testing me or something?” He knew that Izaya called him a monster, unworthy of any human love. It used to make him angry, then he started brushing it off because Izaya was willingly in his company, and now it was starting to _hurt._ Did Izaya just want Shizuo to become a monster? Was that how this ended?

“So many questions Shizu-chan, honestly,” Izaya’s fingers found his cheek and when Shizuo looked up from his feet Izaya was smiling fondly at him. “Do you honestly expect me to get through them all tonight?”

He knew then. He saw that flicker of pain flash in Izaya’s eyes. This was agony. This was torture for Izaya. That meant that it was real.

What were the odds of that happening?

He gaped, completely awestruck by this moment.

“You’re such a confusing person,” Shizuo said softly, “But I want to be by your side. I… I think that’s what I want.”

“Oh what’s this? Suddenly Shizu holier than thou is getting all protective of me because he saved me from drowning? Didn’t I mention that I deserved it?”

“Knock it off,” Shizuo told him firmly, and Izaya fell silent, smiling dejectedly and looking away from him. That was pretty much an admission, wasn’t it? That’s all Shizuo needed to know to know that Izaya probably didn’t deserve it entirely. Maybe Izaya wasn’t as bad as he thought.

Or maybe Shizuo just didn’t care. “Are you in a lot of pain?”

“I’m in agony,” Izaya said, sounding like the opposite was true, but Izaya was a good liar, even with his voice. “I just want to go home and sleep. We can talk tomorrow.”

He tried to pull away but Shizuo held on.

“I’d… feel so much better if you let me go with you.”

“Haven’t you seen enough of me for one-night Shizu-chan?” Izaya grinned at him, bordering on desperate.

“I… I want to see even more of you.”

Izaya’s smile broke. His mouth twisted into an odd line and he looked down at his hands.

“You’re just upset from my injuries. You need to calm…”

“That could’ve been me tonight, you know?” Shizuo blurted. “Me from the old days. When we were just stupid high school students who were lost and kind of drawn too each other but too afraid to be with someone we didn’t fully understand. You… you realize that, don’t you? That I… no not only that but I’ve _tried_ to be that person. I don’t want to ever ever hurt you Izaya. I want to protect you.”

Izaya chuckled sadly. “You’re being so cliché.”

“I know that!” Shizuo told him firmly, giving him a single shake. Izaya looked like his spirit was damn well near close to breaking. And then, Shizuo’s prayers were answered.

“Call us a taxi, Shizu-chan. It’s getting way too late to argue with you.”

Shizuo smiled before sighing in relief. Then before he could help himself, he leaned in and kiss Izaya hard on the mouth. Izaya didn’t resist, or even act surprised. He might have even looked a little lovestruck himself if Shizuo didn’t know better.

What were the odds? Shizuo wondered.

A chance in a lifetime.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been feeling pretty crappy since quarantine started. Like downright crummy and not good at all. I've been moody and sad and unmotivated. I suffer from chronic pain too so being that way has made it worse for me. Getting to indulge in my boys from time to time is really nice. I love Shizaya and I love the Durarara!! fandom so much. I can't wait to write more and more of them. They're my boys, and are just... so very precious to me. Okay, I'm done being mushy and annoying now. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you at least laughed at some of the Shinra parts. I don't think I've actually ever posted a fic with me writing Shinra so that's kind of fun? Anyway XOXO thank you for being wonderful as always.


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